Police: Mom Knows What Happened to Her Missing Kids

Lori Vallow's children haven't been seen since Sept. 23, and Idaho police say Vallow has not only "completely refused" to help them—she probably has all the answers. We "have information indicating that Lori knows either the location of the children or what has happened to them," says a Monday statement from the Rexburg Police Department, per the Arizona Republic. "It is astonishing that rather than work with law enforcement" in the search for Tylee Ryan, 17, and Joshua Vallow, 7, "Vallow has chosen instead to leave the state with her new husband." Coverage:

• That new husband is Chad Daybell. They married in October shortly after the death of Chad's wife, Tammy. The 49-year-old was thought to have died of natural causes, but her death is now being investigated. Two of Lori's previous husbands are also dead, one of an apparent heart attack in 2018. East Idaho News reports Charles Vallow died July 11 after being shot by Lori’s brother, Alexander Cox. Cox himself died Dec. 12; that death is being probed.

• Joshua's disappearance emerged in November after police responded to a welfare check requested by a relative. The couple said the boy—whom Vallow adopted and who has special needs—was with a family friend in Arizona, a story that was soon debunked. Police say the two "abruptly" left town a day after the welfare check. They are wanted for questioning.
• Fox13 has more from the statement, which says that weeks after Tammy Daybell's death, the two "told witnesses that Lori's daughter had died a year before the death of her father, which is untrue. Around that same time Chad told another witness that Lori had no minor children."
• Police also expressed that their "number one priority has been finding Joshua and Tylee. We have taken every step available to us, including executing multiple search warrants, interviewing multiple sources, and running down every lead we have found. We strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee’s lives are in danger."
• NBC News has this statement released last week via the couple's lawyer, which says the pair "look forward to addressing the allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor. Chad Daybell was a loving husband and has the support of his children in this matter. Lori Daybell is a devoted mother and resents assertions to the contrary."

(More missing child stories.)